Macayo's Family Makes Good at Arcadia's Milagro Grill

When a new spot opens in town, we can't wait to check it out -- and let you know our initial impressions, share a few photos, and dish about some menu items. First Taste, as the name implies, is not a full-blown review, but instead a peek inside restaurants that have just opened, sampling a few items, and satisfying curiosities (yours and ours).

Restaurant:Milagro GrillLocation: 4280 East Indian School RoadOpen: Around a monthEats: Mexican-American fusionPrice: Between $11 and $30 per person

There's a good reason Reed Johnson and siblings Ryan "Bubba" Johnson, Jaret Johnson, Brynn Johnson, and mother Nana Johnson opened their new Mexican-American fusion restaurant in Arcadia: They grew up there.

No strangers to the restaurant business (the four siblings are the grandchildren of Arizona restaurateurs Woody and Victoria Johnson, founders of the Mexican food chain Macayo's), the Johnson clan couldn't have selected a better spot for their new venture. In the last few months, the stretch of Indian School Road between 36th and 56th streets, has become a popular place for new restaurants.

And it's here in Arcadia, and in the former home of Joey's of Chicago, that the Johnson clan is making a go of Milagro Grill (Milagro means "miracle" in Spanish). And the neighborhood appears to be loving it.

Laura Hahnefeld

Milagro's menu, created by chef James Fox, who was most recently at Big Earl's BBQ, features the flavors of Mexico mixed with American classics in appetizers and entrees as well as flatbreads, skewers, salads and soups, tacos, and side dishes. You'll probably pay a few dollars more than you would expect for most dishes, but then it is Arcadia.

There's also a healthy list of wines, cocktails, margaritas, and beers -- including a Milagro Private Label draft.

(Note: Milagro Grill is dark as sin at night. I have omitted or kept the food photography small so as not to confuse or frighten the reader.)

Laura Hahnefeld

PB&J de Puerco

When my most helpful server recommended I start with the PB&J de Puerco ($10) appetizer, I nearly slipped into a dramatically audible sigh (who doesn't have a PB&J-and-something starter these days?). It was, however, unexpectedly delightful. Halved and larger than what you might expect (the size of a sandwich), thick, downy bread held together a most unique combination of luscious slices of pork belly, tomato jam, peanuts, arugula, and chiltepin peppers that worked together flawlessly for a salty, spicy, and smoky flavor highlighted with notes of sweet.

There are also three very good pollo tacos ($9). They are very small but feature lively and colorful bites of achiote chicken, white bean, red pepper, cabbage, and wonderful pickled red onion. Due to their miniature size, these might go over better as an appetizer or paired with an a la carte side dish or two.

Most disappointing was my Chuleta entree. The country-style ribs with a pineapple and orange sauce paired with chilaquiles and topped with an egg sounded like the perfect breakfast-for-dinner meal. Sadly, it was nothing more than a lukewarm plate of exceedingly fatty ribs coated in a sweet sauce next to a fairly flavorless pile of chilaquiles being sold for the ridiculous price of $24. Lesson learned.

Beed there twice already...the food is indeed tasty (at least the smaller plates and tacos, haven't tried entrees), but I have to admit I am pretty surprised at the food and cocktail prices for a place at the end of a nondescript strip mall. Still, it's good as long as you don't mind a $60 tab for two small taco plates and a couple cocktails. Nice job on the interior and once the weather gets better the patio will become yet another Arcadia scene.